Tuesday, April 7
10:00 a.m.–noon: Ainsworth House and Gardens, Oregon City
3:00–5:00 p.m.: The Dalles Art Center, The Dalles

Announcing 2015 Public Program Grant Awards

Oregon Humanities grants fund community events across the state.

In February, the Oregon Humanities board of directors awarded $59,900 in grants to thirteen nonprofit organizations from around the state. These grants support public programs that will spark meaningful conversations around compelling subjects that affect Oregonians.

Think & Drink with Barry Lopez

Oregon Humanities’ 2015 Think & Drink series will kick off Thursday, February 5 with renowned essayist and fiction writer Barry Lopez from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., Portland. Click here to purchase tickets. If you have problems with the Alberta Rose ticketing site, call (503) 764-4131 for assistance.

Although Lopez is best known for nature and travel writing, he has also written widely on issues of racial and social justice. At Think & Drink, Lopez will discuss reconciliation, resistance, justice, and place with Adam Davis, executive director of Oregon Humanities.

“If I were asked what I want to accomplish as a writer, I would say it’s to contribute to a literature of hope,” Lopez wrote in the introduction to his essay collection About This Life.

Lopez is the author of Arctic Dreams, for which he received the National Book Award; Of Wolves and Men, a National Book Award finalist; and eight works of fiction, including Light Action in the Caribbean, Field Notes, and Resistance. His most recent books are Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape, a reader’s dictionary of regional landscape terms, which he edited with Debra Gwartney, and Outside, a collection of six stories with engravings by Barry Moser.

2015 Think & Drink Series

Tickets for all four Portland events available now.

Tickets are now available for Oregon Humanities’ 2015 Think & Drink series at Portland’s Alberta Rose Theatre. This year’s guests include Barry Lopez, Walidah Imarisha, and Eula Biss. General admission tickets are $10 each or $25 for the remaining three events in the series, and are available online at albertarosetheatre.com. Preferred seating tickets, which include guaranteed seats in the first five rows and admission to pre-show receptions, are also available, for $25 per event or $75 for all three.

Think & Drink is a happy-hour series that sparks provocative conversations about big ideas. Think & Drink events take place from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St. in Portland. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., and minors are welcome when accompanied by a parent or guardian. The 2015 Think & Drink series will feature the following guests:

February 5: Barry Lopez, author, essayist and fiction-writer. Lopez is the author of Arctic Dreams, for which he received the National Book Award, Of Wolves and Men, a National Book Award finalist, and eight works of fiction, including Light Action in the Caribbean, Field Notes, and Resistance. His most recent books are Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape, a reader’s dictionary of regional landscape terms, which he edited with Debra Gwartney, and Outside, a collection of six stories with engravings by Barry Moser. He lives on the McKenzie River near Finn Rock, Oregon.
Our community partners for this event are the City Club of Portland, Oregon Historical Society, Literary Arts and the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts.

May 21: Walidah Imarisha, educator, writer, organizer, and spoken word artist. For the past five years, Imarisha has led Oregon Humanities Conversation Project programs on Oregon black history, alternatives to incarceration, and the history of hip hop. She has taught in Portland State University’s black studies department, Oregon State University’s women’s studies department, and Southern New Hampshire University’s English department, and is the author of the poetry collection Scars/Stars and the forthcoming book Angels with Dirty Faces, which focuses on criminal justice. She is also coeditor with adrienne maree brown of the forthcoming Octavia’s Brood, an anthology of radical science & speculative fiction written by organizers & activists. She lives in Portland.

July 30: Eula Biss, author of On Immunity: An Inoculation, a book that explores cultural myths about immunity, vaccination, filth, and purity. Her other books are Notes from No Man’s Land: American Essays and The Balloonists, a collection of poems. Her essays have recently appeared in The Best American Nonrequired Reading and the Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Nonfiction as well as in The Believer, Gulf Coast, Denver Quarterly, Third Coast, and Harper’s. She lives in Chicago.

Think & Drink is a happy-hour series that sparks provocative conversations about big ideas. The 2015 Think & Drink series is supported by our media sponsor, Willamette Week, and funding from the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Reading and Discussion Programs for Portland-Area Veterans

Portland-area veterans and others who are interested in exploring the effects of war are invited to register for two upcoming programs.

How War Affects UsMonthly program, open to all, begins February 3
Portland-area veterans, family members of veterans, and anyone who wants to understand the effects of war are invited to register for “How War Affects Us,” a free monthly discussion program at the American Legion Post 134 in Northeast Portland February 3 through July 7. Our country has recently been involved in two of the longest wars in our history. This group will explore what that means and how it affects us as individuals, as communities, and as a nation.

A group of between twenty and twenty-five people will meet once a month for six months. A meal will be provided at each session. The first five sessions will include readings and discussions about military service and the experience of war, readings from guest writers, and short writing workshops. The sixth session will be a public reading of participants’ writings. The program will be led by a trained facilitator who is also a veteran. Space is limited and spots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

The program will take place the first Tuesday of each month from February 3 through July 7, 2015, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at American Legion Post 134, 2104 NE Alberta St., Portland.

To learn more about the program and register, please contact Sean Davis at (503) 679-3885 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

On Coming HomeWeekly program, open to veterans and families, begins February 21
Portland-area veterans and family members of veterans are invited to attend “On Coming Home,” a free weekly reading and discussion program at the Portland VA Medical Center February 21 through March 21, 2015. This is an opportunity to reflect on the military experience, talk about the challenges and opportunities of transitioning from active duty to civilian life, and create a sense of community among those sharing similar experiences.

A small group (fifteen people or fewer) will meet once a week for five weeks; lunch will be provided at each session. We will discuss articles and stories of military service throughout history. The discussions will be led by a trained facilitator who has experience working with veterans. Space is limited and spots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

The program will take place Saturdays, February 21 through March 21, 2015, from noon to 2:00 p.m. at Portland VA Medical Center, 3710 SW U.S. Veterans Hospital Road.

To learn more about the program and register, please contact Valdez Bravo at (503) 220-8262, ext. 53082, or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

These programs are offered by Oregon Humanities in partnership with the Maine Humanities Council and eleven other state humanities councils across the country. The program has received major support from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Standing Together initiative, created to promote understanding of the military experience and to support returning veterans.

Stream Our Think & Drink with Cheryl Strayed

On October 23, 2014, author Cheryl Strayed joined Adam Davis, executive director of Oregon Humanities, at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland for a conversation about the experience of having her private life become public through a best-selling book and major motion picture. Click here to watch a video of the event.

Cheryl Strayed is the author of the memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, the novel Torch, and the essay collection Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar. Wild has stayed on The New York Times Best Seller List for more than a year, and a film adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon will be released in December. Strayed will discuss the experience of having her private life become public through a best-selling book and major motion picture.

Ways to Work with Oregon Humanities

In addition to our program offerings, Oregon Humanities offers other resources and customizable program formats for organizations looking to explore challenging questions and foster connections between people in their organization or community.

Here are some of the ways we can work together. If you want to learn more, fill out the form below and we’ll get in touch with you.

Workplace Programs
Our staff leads workplace programs on a fee-for-service basis. Designed both for nonprofit and for-profit environments, these programs often happen during the work day and can involve full organizations or smaller teams. They can be continuing education opportunities or help with team building by sparking new ways of thinking and working together.

Facilitation Training
Our staff has many years of experience training people to plan, convene, and lead a wide range of public discussion programs, and can help your organization, educational institution, or community develop skills in these areas.

Communications Partnerships
We work with organizations whose programming supports our mission and connects us to new audiences. We offer these communications partnerships, which include marketing, outreach, and public relations support, to organizations that do not have a pending or current Public Program Grant from Oregon Humanities.

Collaborative Programs
We offer public programs in collaboration with partner organizations in order to explore new topics and serve new and shared audiences. For these programs, each partner organization contributes specific planning and marketing resources.

Facilitated Roundtable Discussions
Our staff leads roundtable discussions primarily on a fee-for-service basis and on a variety of topics for public audiences or specific groups. We are happy to design customized single programs or series based on your interests and community.

If any of these options are of interest to you, please take a couple of minutes to complete our online inquiry form.

Humanity in Perspective (HIP) is a college-level humanities course offered in Portland. HIP provides economically and educationally disadvantaged individuals the opportunity to study the humanities with the guidance of Reed College professors.

Idea Lab is a summer institute for Oregon teens and teachers who use the humanities to consider the pursuit of happiness and how it shapes our culture.

Oregon Humanities magazine is a triannual publication devoted to exploring important and timely topics from a variety of perspectives and to stimulating reflection and public conversation.

Public Program Grants provide financial support for nonprofit organizations across Oregon to conceive and implement public humanities programs.

Think & Drink is a happy-hour conversation series that brings Portlanders together to discuss provocative ideas.

Oregon Humanities also convenes reading and discussion groups, hosts panel presentations on topics of public relevance and concern, and partners with community organizations on special projects.